Having escaped famine, I was accepted into Hogwarts.

Chapter 17 Let Me Explain

"Why...are you chopping wood?"

Kane scratched his head: "If I didn't say I'm afraid of the dark, it's obviously for starting a fire."

"........."

After thinking about it all day, Dumbledore guessed why Kane was burning a campfire instead of a lamp at night.

It's highly likely that it's like the shadow that attacked him by the Black Lake one evening—just as only magic can defeat magic, and only light tainted by shadow can dispel shadow.

"Kingsley told me that on the day you stayed at the motel, there was a dark magical fluctuation that lasted all night, it was this campfire, right?" Dumbledore didn't foolishly guess like most people, but asked directly.

"You're mistaken, that's something else." Kane was referring to Charlie, who had been chasing him from the Eternal Realm. Burning his own shadow only prevented Charlie from attacking him, but if he wanted to, he could still hide in the darkness and keep spying on him.

In comparison, a campfire is more useful.

"I look forward to the day you return to Hogwarts." Dumbledore watched Kane leave the office.

After leaving Hogwarts, Kane first went to the Forbidden Forest to chop down some wood, then went to the Black Lake to dig up some stones, and finally arrived at Hagrid's Hut, where he went to the Leaky Cauldron with Hagrid.

"Tom, the bar owner, is a very good man. You can ask him for help with anything. If he can't solve it, just write to Dumbledore, and he'll take care of these problems," Hagrid instructed Kane, then magically produced a cake from behind his back.

"Today is Harry's birthday. I was thinking that with his family background, maybe no one has ever celebrated his birthday before, so I took the liberty of giving this to him for me, okay?" Hagrid said, his face flushed.

"I will." Kane raised an eyebrow; dinner would be ready then.

Kane carried the cake to Harry's room, knocked on the door with the tip of his shoe, and Harry quickly opened the door. The first thing he saw was the cake.

"Wow, this is for me? Why is my name still wrong?" Harry said with some surprise.

"Ask Hagrid later. Maybe it's because Hogwarts doesn't teach academic subjects." Kane placed the cake on the table in the room, found his bed, and began to take out a few stones and firewood from his pocket. He waved his wand, and the shadows carrying these materials swirled to the ground and burst into flames.

"This...this is what you're talking about? A campfire?" Harry stared at the scene in shock, even the cake couldn't elicit such an expression from him now.

"Otherwise, what did you think it was?" Kane looked at Harry with suspicion. What strange thing was this kid thinking about now?

"I thought your lighting over there would be something like a big oil drum with firewood burning, and you'd live and keep warm by a campfire. You've had it too hard since you left the Dursleys, haven't you?" Harry hesitated for a long time before deciding to be a little harsher.

He knew he couldn't stay at the Leaky Cauldron every time he had a holiday or left Hogwarts; sooner or later he would have to return to the Dursleys' house.

Kane was the same; he couldn't just keep sleeping under bridges after the holidays, could he? It was better to say something hurtful to him and bring him to his senses so that he would come back to the Dursleys' house with him during the holidays.

Although there is still psychological violence, at least there is a place to live, and there is no need to use this kind of campfire for warmth and light.

Look at poor Kane. He must have developed PTSD from sleeping outdoors for days. Now he can't sleep peacefully without looking at this campfire.

Kane, completely unaware of Harry's ulterior motives, sat on the bed and pulled one item after another from his pocket, throwing them onto the floor.

wood.

"Please stay away from the campfire. If you burn the wood, we'll have to pay for the room."

Stone.

"You have to pay for the damaged floor."

Two pieces of gold.

"That's enough to cover the costs, but to be honest, it's not worth it."

Kane looked at Harry with a hint of exasperation: "You should just enjoy your cake."

After saying that, he took out his wand and slid it lightly. Shadows gushed out from the tip of the wand, swirling up the materials on the ground and instantly transforming them into an incredibly crude scientific machine with belts and levers.

"Huh?" Harry stared wide-eyed at the scene. "Dude? When did you learn Transfiguration?"

Kane raised an eyebrow: "This isn't a transformation spell; I made it myself by hand using materials."

Harry's mouth dropped open, unsure what to say. Should he say "Awesome!" or "Are you kidding me?"

In the end, he said nothing. A mature person should be able to tolerate a friend's strange little quirks.

After dealing with Harry, another person came online. Maxwell stroked his chin as he looked at the scientific machine Kane had created: "What's the use of this thing?"

"Hmm... Creating an alchemy engine?" Kane gave his answer.

"I understand. You created the alchemy engine to make the spirit particle decomposer, right?" Maxwell said with a hint of helplessness.

"Old Maxwell is really smart. No wonder he's the man who can become the Lord of Eternity." Kane said, then sent Maxwell away, casually ate two small cakes, brushed his teeth, lit a fire, and went to bed in one go.

"etc."

Kane sat up in bed: "What's wrong?"

"Won't this fire cause us to get carbon monoxide poisoning the next day?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Poisoning is a low-probability event, but if I didn't have this fire, you would most likely see a skeleton when you wake up the next day," Kane said, covering himself up again.

The next day arrived in the blink of an eye.

"Ugh, I feel like my sanity has dropped again, probably because of this wand." Kane looked at the wand in his hand, feeling somewhat helpless. He needed to find a way to restore his sanity.

Restoring sanity is simple: first, transform into a gluttonous Ryoko and shower her with delicious food; second...

"I wonder if they sell flower wreaths in Diagon Alley," Kane said with a hint of exasperation, nudging the sleeping Harry. "Where's your money?"

Harry, still half asleep, pulled a glittering golden object from the bedside table: "The vault key. Go get it yourself."

Kane, holding the key, looked at Harry with an approving expression and nodded repeatedly.

"This is what a true brother is like."

Gringotts appears to be running 24/7; Kane went in and came out with five Galleons in less than half an hour.

After all, he just wanted to buy a wreath; did he really have to empty Harry's vault?

If someone has this thought, they can be called the most heartless person.

However, when Kane wore the wreath infused with his own shadow on his head and sat at the bar counter downstairs, feeling his sanity recovering, he suddenly thought of a serious question.

As a grown man, wearing this flower wreath makes me feel...gay.

"Do you think so?" Kane looked at Tom, who was always wiping cups across from him, and asked this profound question.

"You're still young, and young people can't do anything wrong," Tom comforted him.

"That's good." Kane breathed a sigh of relief, jumped off the stool, and turned around to see Harry looking completely bewildered.

"Let me explain, I'm a real man!"